Art at the Alameda Antiques Show

Wow is all I can say... a beautiful day spent by the bay with my very oldest and dearest friend Kellie... we celebrated 30 years together as friends last year... We have been together longer than any of my husbands. She has been through it all with me over the years, marriage, divorce, childbirth, deaths in the family, sports, sleepovers, drunken teenagers... We live a 5 minute drive away, and yet are both so busy, we never see one another... We made a promise to make time to hang out and do crafty things together....

I was walking the show snapping away like a tourist, and she would hightail it away from me when I started snapping. I usually ask first when taking photos. but one lady kind of got mad, and asked me to ask first... I told her it was to post on my blog, so people could see all the awesome things at the show, and then she said OK and was really nice about it...

I was so inspired by all I saw out there today... If you need some ideas, or are feeling creatively stuck... take a stroll to a local art or antiques show... Just being around different stuff can be inspiring... I was looking everywhere for the german doll man... This guy has a friend that sends him dolls he digs up from an old doll factory in Germany... He had a ton of them last time I was out there... If anyone knows where I can get some of those dolls, please send me a link or email me with some contact info.... I bought some sari's for $5 each, and some little bottles for $1 each... and a photo of a WWII Japanese American Soldier in uniform at one of the camps... oh and a bag of jewelry for $10....

If you have any favorite flea markets and would like to share them with me, I am compiling a list, and will be posting a directory on my blog soon... so please email me with your tips for the best places to find cool vintage art junk... We will post it on the Art Junk Gypsy resource list... I will travel FAR for good art junk...

SO I am sharing some photos of all the COOL things I was inspired by at the show... I saw more and more vendors making things with old objects and turning them into art...

Green Youth Project Art

Here is some artwork the young men at Juvenile Hall have been working on in our classes on Tuesday nights. They will be finishing them tonight, and I will share more photos. The assignment was to use images of President Obama to create the artwork, and then to use words and journaling to describe their own Yes We Can message... changing it to a Yes I can... Some of them were hesitant, and started in with, "Well, he never went to juvenile hall, or jail..." and I asked them if they were going to let the circumstances and things that happened to get them incarcerated define who they will be for the rest of their lives... "Well, no..." they agreed... I asked them, "So what do you want to do when you graduate from Juvenile Hall University? What are your dreams? Talk about them in your books..." I am excited to see what they come up with, and was pleasantly surprised with the work they have done so far. When I asked what they liked about Obama, they said he was "real" They especially liked the photos of him with his family, and shooting hoops and pool.... they all agreed they hope he can "Keep it real" during the tough challenges ahead of him in his presidency.

OWOH

UPDATE!!!! I have chosen all the winners, and I will be contacting them and announcing them tonight. I have had connectivity issues here at home, and hope to have them resolved today so I can make the big announcement. I will post the winners name under the photo of what they have won here on this post. Comments are now closed on this post. Thanks to all of you for visiting me, I will be making the rounds to all the bloggers who posted to mine here in the coming days. I love this event, and have met so many incredible people as a result.

2/17/08 Finally I am able to access internet and post the winners. Thanks to everyone for your patience. All winners have been contacted for addresses... I have posted the winners below each photo.

Vicki Priebe is the winner of the paper bag album...

Jennifer Bowen is the winner of the CD book

Ozylynda is the winner of the garland heart.

Kate Tracton is the winner of the heart ornament

and awtemnymf is the winner of the bottle fairy...

Congratulations to all of you!! Thnks so much for visiting and participating in this awesome event...

It is that time of year again! Last year I participated in the One World One Heart giveaway event. You can learn about it here. Surf a bunch of blogs, and get to know some fantastic people in the process. I will be giving away some prizes here on my blog for the giveaway. To enter for the drawing, just leave a comment on this post at the bottom. You will be automatically entered to win one of 5 prizes I will be giving away. The drawing will be held on February 12th and I will announce the winners on the 13th after 8am PST. Please be sure you post your contact info in your post so I can get hold of you when you win!

As many of you know, I am the "Art Junk Gypsy" I travel far and wide for good "art junk". With my friend "The Dumpster Diva" scrounging cool things to make art from garbage, we are creating the reuse center of our dreams... All of the things you will win are things that have been created with dumpster diverted materials. A bottle fairy made from an old Sake bottle, a heart ornament made from garland and old jewelry, and a little photo album made with CD's, scrap papers and old 1950's jewelry... A paper bag album, a glass heart decorated with metallic trims and an old earring.

My goal with this giveaway is to have people look at garbage in another way. We are on our way with the reuse center. Watch my blog for info about Trashopia... the reuse center located inside Facchini Salvage's new location on w. 4th street in Antioch. It will be a one stop recycle shop, for all your reuse and recycling needs. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, or are visiting, you gotta come see us... You will be AMAZED at all the beautiful things that can be created with garbage. If you are a reuse crafter, please post links to your favorite reuse centers and flea markets... and browse my blog to see the ones I have visited... Thanks so much for visiting, and joining in this awesome event....

Altered books altered lives

The class last night went well... I am not allowed to take a camera into the hall, so I will photograph some of their work later and post it here...

It started out with 8 volunteers. Some of the guys I had met at a christmas luncheon a few weeks ago. One boy was kicked out for bad behavior. He tested me from the get go. I knew if I didn't stand up to him and deal with it right away, I would have problems with the rest of them, and him for the next 6 weeks of class. After he was kicked out, I told the rest of them... "Look, I am here volunteering my own time, using my own money and supplies to create this program for you. I thought it would be fun to do art, and learn about something other than studying for your GED. I don't want to butt heads with anyone. I don't want anyone here who doesn't want to BE here... So if you don't want to be here, please excuse yourself, so the rest of us can get on with the class." They were all quiet, and one kid says "Uh, I am down with it, and I wanna be here for the whole 6 weeks... I can't wait to learn.." Now THAT is what I like to hear. One of the boys even came in early to help me set up the next week, and apologized for the other kid and said he hoped I wouldn't hold that other kids behavior against the rest of them, because they were all excited to be there...

There is incredible potential in these young men... kids who many consider the "throwaway" members of society... Some are poets, some are incredible artists, some are so good at speaking in the group, they could be politicians... I look forward to watching their growth as we move forward in the class... I am excited for the day I can get them to really create art, and not just collages with bottles of Patron Tequila and Kim Kardashian as the focal point... One step at a time... we will get there.

Holey Moley

How long has it been since I came here to post? I just blew the dust off of everything, and took a look around.. BOY is this place sadly neglected.

I am here briefly, to tell you about the adventures of the youth art program, reuse center and my work with the kids at juvenile hall.

Christmas was a hectic time. I helped make gift bags for the 400 residents of juvenile hall, the girls home and the boys ranch on top of all my mom duties, work as an elder care provider to an 87 year old woman with alzheimers, volunteer manager at the thrift store, carpool driver, craft boutique coordinator, fundraiser and all around general work horse for the art program.

I have met some of the kids there at the hall, and am learning my way around the building. The most touching thing, was watching a young man open his bag, getting a wallet and saying to the guy next to him "Man, a wallet... I ain't never had a wallet before." and even more touching, the reply of the boy next to him, softly saying "S$#%, I ain't never even had a Christmas Present before." You would have thought these kids were given gold... instead of Axe body wash and deodorant and socks and a few little candies. It takes so little to touch a persons life. Truly, I am humbled and I grow and learn every day working with these kids. They frustrate you, they humble you, they make you laugh and cry... but every day is a new surprise. I start my altered art journals class with them tonight. I can't wait to start showing some of the work here on my blog. Some of the art they create is incredible, and the poetry they write brings tears to your eyes.

I have been selling some vintage wallpaper on ebay to raise money for the program. It is going really well. Check out some of the auctions under ksimoni on ebay and see what pretty things we have for sale. Some of these papers are perfect for altered art but many of them have flowers... I keep a lot of them back for art projects. But as the therapist told me, "remember they're guys... they don't wanna do doilies and flowers..." So I hope I can keep it fresh and interesting enough that they will feel inspired and want to create some awesome work.

I move ahead into the new year refreshed, with a new purpose. Many of the old issuse that have plagued me are hanging on, but I just keep persevering. I know it will all be resolved, and I will come through this year gloriously triumphant... I am holding on to that thought... We just got word, through my friend and soon to be new partner RC aka the Dumpster Diva that we are getting the space for our center finally.... In a one stop recycling shop to be located in an old abandoned glass factory in Antioch.... YIPPEE!!! I will have full details Friday after I tour and photograph the place....

Happy New Year to all !

Finally, some beach action

well... after 11 days here in Florida, I FINALLY got to the beach. WHAT a beautiful place it was too! We stayed at Danielle's boyfriends parents condo on Anna Maria Island... We slept in, ate breakfast and went to the beach. I was amazed at how many shells there were on the beach. They were literally everywhere... TONS of them. I filled TWO plastic grocery bags with them. I had so many, I was afraid they would make my suitcase overweight so I left them with Danita to mail to me. She was complaining that the surf was too rough and the water was green... I thought it was beautiful. She said normally it is very calm and the water is a beautiful turquoise blue... The shells are not usually so plentiful either... apparantly all of the swells and shells were a parting gift from Hurricaine Ike.. Watching the sunset and drinking pineapple juice and captin morgans parrot bay rum was the final touch to the ending of a beautiful trip. I have to thank Danita and her family for the awesome hospitality. I had a great time, the BEST time I have ever had on a business trip.

I left the next morning for home, sorry to leave Thelma and our most excelent road trip adventure... but I know there will be many more of these to come.

More reuse centers

Our next road trip was to northern Florida. We stayed in Gainesville with Danita's kids Danielle and Milo, both students at the university there in Gainesville. We toured 4 centers in between Gainesville and Jacksonville. The directors there were awesome and again let us take some stuff for Danita's class at the YMCA. So far the weather is holding, sun wherever I have gone and lovely tropical humid weather. I have given up trying to straighten my hair... and just let it doing out as it is want to do in humid weather. I actually like my hair better in humid climates... but that is another story...

The Jacksonville center is HUGE... and old high school converted into a reuse center. They are not open to the public either. You MUST be a teacher to get in. They open once ever quarter and there is a line around the building to get in. Their opening was the day before we arrived, so some of the shelves were bare, but still, a TON of cool and useable items there. Chris and John gave us a tour, and let Milo get some things for some art projects. Milo plans on going back and working with them to create murals around the building in exchange for materials. He is an incredible artist, who inherited him mom's art gene... I have rarely seen this kind of talent in a person so young.

Dodging Ike

Since a lot of the reuse centers were in southern Florida from Melbourne south, and since Ike was headed for the Keys, we decided to go south first, and so after going to visit Casey in Ft. Lauderdale, we headed on down toward Miami to visit my friends Ray and Maritza and their son David. They were in the process of moving, and so we hung out and swam while they worked on the house. In the evening, I made cheezy garlic bread with the San Francisco sourdough I brought, and us gals sat in the jacuzzi while Ray brought us drinks... Maritza was calling him the butler all night. We chatted about life, marriage, kids and just being women, and happy to be visiting each other. I missed Pascual a lot while we were there... He and Ray get along so well, and they were so happy Danita and I were there, but we all wished he could have been with us. They are such fun... what is it about the latin people? Pascual and I met them on a sunset booze cruise in Aruba... we sat down and started talking before boarding the cruise, we visited the whole time and had a great time, and then we went to dinner at a brazillian restaurant afterward. They told us if we ever came to Florida, we were welcome in their home... So when we went back to florida in July to take Megan for her graduation present to Disney World, we stayed with them for a weekend and became great friends. They opened their hearts and their home to us with such love and generosity... Danita was amazed and so tickled at their warmth and hospitality... and so unused to people being so kind to strangers... She is starting to see, that if you look for the good, and see the good in all things, they rise up to meet you... and your experience is a great one... Ike was threatning the entire state...and yet we were unaffected by weather at all, and had beautiful sunny skies wherever we went the entire trip...

We spent the night with them, and most of the day. we drove to the Ft. Lauderdale airport to add Danita on to my car rental policy, so she could drive us home in the dark. (I don't do night driving) and the GPS wanted to take us through Alligator Alley, which Danita refused to drive at night... so we relocated ourselves on to a main highway, and off we went into the dark night... Along this one long lone stretch of highway, she stops the car in the middle of the road and switches off the lights so we can see the stars... well, I FREAK out... because the night before, I had a dream that we did the same thing, and a car was driving behind us doing the same thing, they didn't see us stopped with no lights in the middle of the road, and they were driving with no lights looking at the stars also, and BANG they hit us and it was a really bad accident... as I am sitting there feeling the sense of deja vu. I am having a major anxiety attack, telling her to get off the road at least, and pull into the dirt road on the side... almost hysterical.... It didn't happen like in the dream, but I was so shaken up... it took me quite a while to calm down. We got back to Danitas house after 2 am, and were up and on the road early the next morning headed to Gainesville, Jacksonville and surrounding areas...

Walter the Reuse Guru

We went to Melbourne to meet with Walter the Re-use Guru... And little did we know... but he IS reuse in Florida. He has helped many of the centers get started. He has consulted and helped many people with their programs. His background is in early child development and education.

We went to lunch at an organic restaurant in Melbourne, where we talked about our program, picked his brain a bit and he shared a bunch of information with us. We went back to the center and he did some work while we went to Kinkos to copy some of his paperwork. When we got back, he put on some soft music and started making art kits with open ended materials for us to play with. Danita made something for him to display, and she looked to be having so much fun, I want to make something too. The energy in the room just seemed make you want to make something!

The music he played provoked creativity. It didn't distract with lyrics, but generated a highly focused creative space that felt nurturing. I quickly slipped into the "zone" he spoke of and time seemed more fluid. I felt myself rushing around within a timeframe that seemed expansive. I remember asking him if he needed to leave, and him saying no because he were getting things done, and I dove right back into it again. I don't allow myself to just play and be creative much anymore, because I have so many more "important" things to do. I learned in this session, that play IS important, in fact it is vital to the human spirit. Making the time to just let your imagination run wild while you create something with a pile of stuff is very liberating. Having no set structure, rules or guidelines was fun. I could make whatever inspired me... I knew I wanted to make a shadowbox, and was pleased with how it turned out, but the real creativity began when I decided what to put in it... I wanted it to be like a stage, and I couldn't find any people, so I made the harvest sprites out of a fall floral spray that he had there. It turned into the harvest sprite ballet theatre, and I was really happy with how it turned out. My only regret was that I didn't have time to really finish it the way I would have liked... The internal critic in me started overanalyzing it and wanting to pick at it and tweak it and make it perfect. I just had to walk away at that point or I would have been there all night. I learned that when I jump into creative play, the critic in me is silenced until the end process... so learning to walk away, and actually hand it over to him was a new experience for me... I would usually take it home unfinished, and then never finish it because I can't turn that critic off... It was a very healing process for me to just let it all go and create. I LOVED it, and will be sure to schedule more time like this for myself, and together with my children as well.

Unfortunately, we were so busy having fun. we forgot to take a photo with Walter. He is the only one we forgot to photograph... I guess that just means we need to take another trip there to visit with him. I encourage anyone who is a teacher or works with children to take his play coaching workshop. You will be amazed at what you learn.

I urge you all to go out into your studio, randomly pull things from the shelves and put them in a pile, and then PLAY with it... let your imagination run wild as you glue and twist and stamp and paint... I would love to see some of you post your creations here.

Cars, Planes and Hurricanes

And a crazy British GPS lady who gets me lost every time. That is how the Florida trip went... I arrived at midnight in Tampa, went to pick up my rental car, and was almost knocked over by the heat and humidity, the likes of which us Northern Californians never experience. I have been to Florida a few times before, but I don't remember it being so bloody hot... and sticky. You need to run the air all night long. The closest I can compare it to is a trip I made to Hawaii and there were no trade winds for a few days and it was miserable hot... but even that doesn't really compare. It took me a few days to get used to, and I still couldn't stop commenting on it every time I went outside...

I had this wierd rash that got itchy during the night, and was putting some natural remedy on it that gave some relief, but not a lot... I arrived at Danita's house at 2am after some lovely detours from the airport where I ended up in a construction zone, and a nice dumptruck driver with a southern accent showed me the way to the highway.

We visited for a bit, went to sleep for a few hours, and it was time to wake up. I met her daughter Ciarra and her husband Mark, and we took off for a bit to go shopping. We returned and she had to go to work, and I went and did some shopping around the area, and got back in time to go to dinner with her family for her mother's birthday.  Her family is my kind of people. Nice, and friendly and very easy to know... or maybe it was all the parrot bay rum and pineapple juice I was consuming...

In the summer in Florida, apparantly you don't do anything without watching the weather channel and getting hurricane updates. I arrived right after Hannah hit land, and was on Ike watch the main portion of the trip. We had scheduled many visits on the east coast of Florida from Melbourne to Miami, but with Ike making his way toward Southern Florida, we decided to mix it up and head south first before the storm, and do the central and northern parts after Ike passed, all of this depended on what Ike would do, as he seemed to change his mind every hour.

We spent the first weekend visiting the center Trash to Treasure in Fort Lauderdale. Casey, the director there is such a sweet lady. She gave us a tour of the place, and we filled a bag of goodies to take back for Danita's art classes at the YMCA. Their center works with teachers and the public. They were the only one we toured that looked like what I am accustomed to here in California... Lots of great materials for art and assemblage, with some great environmental messages to some of the pieces... Here is Casey holding up a reuse art doll she made.

Moving...

Hey there everyone! Wow it's been a long time since I posted. Sorry for that. I have been traveling and moving and packing and moving, and rearranging and moving and clearing out and moving... Oh, did I mention I am moving? Every time I say I am moving, I state emphatically that I will eliminate all the CRAP from my life... and I take several loads of things to charity. But still, it is not enough... My house, that felt so new and clean when I moved in, now has a crowded, cluttered feeling... So I am on a mission to box things up and take them to the Hall Closet. I am learning that things come back to you in ways you wouldn't expect when you let them go. So much stuff comes in that store, that I have learned, if I put the thought out there that I need something, usually within a few days, it shows up at the store, and I get it for a few bucks, instead of the new department store prices... Got a digital camera, bedding for my king sized bed in a color I LOVE and a laptop, all with this same flowdreaming stuff... It really works. You tap into the universal flow, and direct the energetic flow of your own life, and things start to HAPPEN...

So we have moved to downtown Martinez to be closer to the schools for the kids. They can both walk, and love it. The kids have friends in the neighborhood, and we have met many of the neighbors already. We have been hoping for a neighborhood where the people are friendly and we got one. We love our new place, and the house is amazing...!

I have been compiling a post about my trip to Florida... It is LONG... so I will break it up into sections... We visited Several reuse centers out there, and on the last day I went to the beach and had a GREAT time... My new BFF Danita is an awesome person and fabulous tour guide... We had a real Thelma and Louise adventure minus Brad Pitt and the Cliff... (we did have a convertable!) and I can't wait to tell you all about it and show you photos of all the centers we visited...

Greg Brumfield Art Show

The AMAZING Art of Greg Brumfield

You know what a reuse and repurposing nut I am... I was in Starbucks about 2 months ago and saw this really COOL art made with cups and straws and cup sleeves from Starbucks. I asked who the artist was, and wanted to talk to him. He called me back a few days later, and we chatted for quite a while about his art and creature building. Let me tell you, his pieces in Starbucks are NOTHING compared to what he entered at the Marin County Fair. He entered 8 pieces and all 8 of them won awards. A true renaissance man, who has a visionary gift to turn garbage into amazingly intricate art. The things he does with a glue gun will fascinate you. Making ships rigging and chain links from hot glue. Balls and braids and sculpting faces and people also entirely out of hot glue. His work is on display at the Pittsburg Civic Center for the Month of August. In September, the exhibit will move downtown for the Annual Seafood Festival. If you are anywhere near the Bay Area and want to see a truly incredible show, check out Coffee Break at the City of Pittsburg Civic Center! Don't forget to go upstairs to the third floor to see the other pieces.

Pittsburg Community Art

I went to the Pittsburg Civic Center and got caught up in appreciating the beautiful floors and tapestries in the building... Blue Lapis and another type of blue and gray stone with irridescent veins flowing through it. These pictures don't do it justice. They have these amazing fabric collages hanging on the walls that are called tapestries, but they are not woven... they are pieced together with different textiles. Some of the photos didn't turn out too well... I will try to shoot them another time in better lighting.

RAFT

Recource Area For Teachers is a COOL place... You have to be a teacher or non-profit organization to shop there. You need a membership or a day pass... they have TONS of projects and kits for teachers to teach math and science based art projects. Go check them out. Their Website has a lot of project ideas. Here are some photos I took of all the COOL stuff they have. I bought 2 shopping carts full of stuff for $28 !!! They have a die cut room with 19 machines and every die Ellison makes. You can bring your own paper or buy theirs by the inch. They have a laminating machine, and all kinds of projects displayed. Make sure to allow a few hours to really browse. You an get great yarns and fibers for 50 cents a ball, and used computers for $50 to $85 donated from local Silicon Valley Companies. I bought 8 oz liquid watercolors for $3 each. I got a recipe for making sidewalk chalk with the watercolors and plaster of paris! Check them out for more project ideas....

The Hall Closet

Many of you know I am one of the managers at the Hall Closet Thrift Store in Martinez. It is a very cool store, with tons of great stuff at prices like a thrift store should be... Here are some photos of the store I took recently. We are closing soon for 2 weeks to prepare for Halloween. Ruthie, our resident costume expert has been compiling the BEST selection of funky stuff for halloween! Come check us out... Open Monday and Tuesday from 10-2 and the first Saturday of every month.

Been MIA

To my 5 fans out there in blogland... sorry I haven't posted in a while...

I am up to my eyeballs in stuff for the center... business paperwork, networking, getting ready for the Peddler's Fair on Aug. 2nd... Thanks to my pal Mel and a sweet volunteer Bonnie for helping me with all the sewing on the bags..

I have some COOL stuff I am making for the PF out of vintage fabrics that are looking quite cool. I will post photos.

I am off this morning to RAFT to meet with the director about their program and to network with another center... If you live in the Florida area, there are TONS of reuse centers... I found the Mac Daddy of reuse centers in Florida, and I am flying out there in September to meet with him and learn the ropes...

My computer is on the fritz and I can't load photos right now, so sorry for the text only posts... I will give a full recap of RAFT this evening with photos... I will figure this out,... I swear.